A study produced by the Governors Highway Association in Washington D.C. shows that there has been a nationwide increase in teenaged drivers fatally injured while not wearing a seat belt. In Pennsylvania, 106 teenagers were killed in car accidents in 2012. Of that 106, 92 were not wearing seat belts.
Nationwide that same year, more than 51 percent of teen drivers killed in fatal accidents were not wearing seat belts. Since 2010, this number has been on the rise. More than 60 percent of passengers killed weren’t wearing seat belts. However, the percentage of adults 20 and over killed while not wearing seat belts was less than half.
In the United States, car crashes are still the number one cause of death for teenagers. Although the number of fatal car crashes has dropped dramatically in the past decade, the number of teens riding without seat belts involved in those crashes has risen. This fact alone says something serious about how important seat belts are to our safety — and the safety of our children.
However, this group did credit Pennsylvania as one of the 12 states with increased efforts to encourage teen drivers to buckle up. Some of these efforts include education initiatives and ticketing individuals who ride in a car unbuckled. Most notably, the group mentioned the three-week campaign called, “Teen Seat Belt Mobilization.” During this campaign, there is serious educational outreach followed by heightened legal enforcement. This campaign was repeated in 2013 and 2014.
For more information about this study, check out the article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.